From: express.co.uk

The latest Doctor Who, Matt Smith, will have a new assistant when he steps into the Tardis next year.

Former EastEnders star Michelle Ryan has emerged as the hot favourite to partner him. The 24-year-old, who is well known in the US for her role as Bionic Woman was “a firm BBC favourite”, according to a source.

The actress auditioned to be the Doctor’s helper in 2005, hoping to take over from Billie Piper, but the part went to Freema Agyeman.

Ryan could face stiff competition again this time. Other names linked to the part include Gina Bellman, 42, from New Zealand, who has appeared in Jekyll and Coupling and Carey Mulligan, 23, who played Sally Sparrow in a previous Doctor Who episode.

The BBC is likely to keep its choice of his helper as secret as the name of the new Time Lord.

Nearly seven million people watched a special Doctor Who Confidential on Saturday to see who would take on the main role in the science fiction programme.

Well updates and news have been pretty slow the last couple of weeks but hopefully a new year means more news! We have a new look on the main site as well as the forum, have a happy and safe new year!

News is really slow at the moment so I made some icons!

4 x 100×100 Icons

Here’s a review for the first series of Merlin, to read the rest click here!

Michelle Ryan’s devilishly seductive Nimueh instantly blew her away as a believable love interest. It was a shame that beyond her initial excursion into Camelot, Nimueh wasn’t at the forefront of more stories.

Sure, she popped up on a couple of occasions but more as a tacked-on afterthought. There’s much scope to develop her (assuming she will return from her apparent death), as witnessed by the electrifying revelations between her and Uther, when her part in Arthur’s genesis was explained. This enabled a more sympathetic judgment of Nimueh and her actions, and perhaps it’s a shame that Merlin showed no remorse after dispatching her. It’s murder, after all.

I would like to wish all the vistors a safe and happy Christmas!

You can sign up at amazon.com to find out when the Merlin DVD will be available in America!

1 x Merlin Official Site Wallpaper
1 x Merlin Volume 2 DVD Cover

From: thesun.co.uk

The BBC last night defended a £45,572 party at a top London venue to launch TV drama Merlin.

Bosses said the Oxo Tower bash was “the most cost-effective way” to launch a series.

Chief operating officer Caroline Thomson said: “We don’t party for party’s sake. We choose shows we launch at parties carefully.”

Some 326 people including media, directors, crew and cast, such as Michelle Ryan, who plays Nimueh in the series, were invited.

It was the biggest of four such bashes in 2008 at a total cost of £164,000, the BBC admitted.

Parties were also held for The Passion, No 1 Ladies Detective Agency and Little Dorrit.

Thanks to the wonderful and very talented Jess over at the forum we have a fantastic new header, I hope you like it as much as I do!

Merlin, BBC One’s new hit Saturday night fantasy drama has been re-commissioned for a second series by Ben Stephenson, Controller of BBC Drama Commissioning, and BBC One Controller Jay Hunt, it was confirmed today.

Starring Colin Morgan, Bradley James, Anthony Head and Richard Wilson, Merlin has enchanted family audiences in one of the most competitive slots on TV since the transmission of the first episode on 20 September 2008, averaging an audience of 6.2 million viewers for the first eight episodes, with a 28% average share.

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From: www.digitalspy.co.uk  

A suitably epic finale rounds off the largely impressive first season of Merlin, with the stakes raised higher than ever. The tone is chillingly dark, the cast is brilliant and the plot is consistently gripping. It’s perfect fantasy viewing for all the family.

Morgana’s prophetic doom-laden visions help to instill a sense of dread after a slightly clumsy beginning to the episode, featuring a very unconvincingly rendered monster. From then on, the episode provides Colin Morgan with his best material to date as the confused wizard, who is put in the horrible position of having to sacrifice his own life to save Arthur - or so he thinks. Morgan, as an X Factor judge would say, owns the stage in a tense confrontation with the Dragon and is similarly crowdpleasing when asserting himself on Arthur (in a purely verbal sense!) and calling him a ‘prat’.

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